Author: halftone

Welcome to the Backlot blog – I’ll introduce myself first so you know a little about me before reading on.

I’m Ross Brown, an aspiring freelance filmmaker based in London, as of last year (2016, it’s now 2017 as i’m writing) and i’m attending Ravensbourne studying BA Digital Film Production. I’m originally from the south of England, from a fairly large town called Poole in Dorset.

I’m not going to lie – Moving to London was scary. Not only was I moving away from the town that i’d known for, well, 19 years of my life, I was moving away from the only town I truly knew, alongside moving out of my parent’s place and living on my own. It’s been a trial by fire, so to speak.

Things I’ve discovered:

I can’t cook. Well, not really: I can’t find the time to cook. Cooking takes so long and requires attention, and as someone with the attention span of a gnat that’s a fire waiting to happen.

Pasta can be made in the microwave: Yup. Seems like no one knows this but it can be done, and it’s literally just as good as cooking it on the hob, yet doesn’t require the love and attention.

People are disgusting: Student accommodation. Need I say more? Well, put it this way: I have made a mini kitchen in my room, since i’m convinced if a health inspector came to the kitchen in my flat the building and anyone within a 500 meter radius would need to be evacuated.

I’ve discovered what fashion is, and developed some kind of fashion sense. And discovered that a lot of money is involved.

Despite what anyone says, running a car in London is a worthwhile investment: Buses here are unreliable – not in the sense they break down a lot, but more in the sense you’re lucky if they turn up and don’t leave you waiting for half an hour developing icicles. Not only that, but the buses don’t actually get you everywhere you might want to go.

Student loans are far from consistent: I’ve met a lot of people at uni. And every one of them has varying amounts of financial problems, or lack thereof. I mean, can we get a Robin Hood of student loans, please?

I’ve also, as of the 26th of January, learnt that Crowdfunding really does work. We were trying to raise £500 to fund a short horror movie that we were making outside uni, and we were doing this over approximately 12 days, which, by all accounts, is a very short time to attempt to crowdfund anything, let alone a film. We managed to raise £200 in 11 days, and with less than 24 hours ago, an anonymous contributor gave us £300 with the message “Don’t Waste It”.

Don’t Waste It.

Thank you. Thank you for giving us this chance, anonymous contributor. We won’t let you down.

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